Apologies ....

Hello and welcome to Fishers Lines,

Firstly I must apologise for the time between putting a blog together, time seems to have flown since October 2020.
Life is still, as I type uncertain, but the progress with vaccinations already given makes the future more hopeful.

The Fisher household had a simple Christmas due to lockdown with Freyja the dog getting plenty of walks.

We have recently had quite a bit of snow and Freyja has enjoyed walking in that much more than the over the ankle deep, sticky mud we usually meet !
She's quite a princess and its quite amusing to watch her deciding the best route to avoid the mud.

During the lockdowns, I have been kept busy working on ideas for the latest book I have been commissioned by Search Press to write. Details, medium and subject will be announced later.
My editorial meetings to plan out the book usually take place at Search Press HQ in Tunbridge Wells. Here, the ideas I have are mapped by my editor onto a layout detailing content and chapters.

This took place virtually (like much of the world in 2020) via online screens.

I have also been asked by the Leisure Painter to write a new 6 month series and glancing at my calendar my first deadline looms for early March… where did January and February disappear to ?

We own a 6 acre field just outside our village here in Leicestershire and I really enjoy being there chopping wood for the log burner, sorting the poly tunnel and all sorts of other jobs.
Usually the first part of the year sees us tackling a new section of hedge and sorting 50 years of not being laid.
Hedge laying is something I really enjoy doing, its so satisfying to watch a jumble of overgrown hawthorn being tamed into shape. The process is a bit of a mixture of art and chess, you decide where the cut should be to lay the branch and fingers crossed it doesn't snap off.

Well, the weather this year so far has been a combination of extreme wet and snow, so this far we have not started a new section.
I am hoping to start soon and will update you on future blogs. It is fascinating to watch a newly laid hedge spring into life and after a few years it becomes sturdy and secure once more.

The photos below show me in action February 2020. The first view sees the February 2020 section next to the part laid some 9 years before. In the distance you can just see how overgrown the hedge was originally, quite a task !

hedge laying tim photoshedge laying photo
Fishers Lines